Clutch



Jan. N), 1939. L. o. cox 2,143,171

CLUTCH Filed Nov. 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Jan.'10, 19392,143,121

umreo STATES PATENT OFFICE T .,,.....;Z;JJZZI;.SZZ: 33:22.35;

3 Claims. (Cl. 19243.1)

My invention xrelates to improvements in of Figure 4 and which showsmeans for locking clutchesfor power transmission and while I have theclutch parts in either operative or inoperative designed this clutchioruse in driving a soy position. bean harvesting mechanism from the liveaxle Referring to the drawings-by reference char- 5 of a wheeled soybean harvester machine, itis acters, numeral '6 designates a drivenshaft which, 5 to'be understood that sameis usef-ulfor many in thepresent application of my clutch is the other purposestoo numerous tomention. mechanism-driving shaft of a soy bean harvester.

Briefly and generally, the invention has for its The driven shaft 6carries the loose clutch, object to provide a clutch forthe purposestated element which comprehends the cup-like member.

H) "which will be of simple, durable and inexpensive I having thecircumferential series of teeth ID to construction, highly eflicient inpractical use, and and whose hub 1a is mounted on the said shaft. easyto operate and keep in repair. On said hub 10. is keyed or otherwisefixedly seiidditionally, the invention aims to provide a cured the hub8a of a sprocket gear 8 which has clutch for the stated, and otherpurposes, which the chain or other drive connection 9 with a maybeutilized as either a "right hand" or a suitable drive means-such asfor instance, the 16 "leit hand clutch-or in other words one whereliveaxle (not shown) of a soy bean harvester in internal parts may be simplyreversed, as it machine. were, to eiiect drive of the driven clutchelement Keyed as at H to driven shaft 8 is the hub in one or the otherdirection. Hla of the driven clutch element in. Said clutch 20Furthermore, and more specifically stated, the element I 0 comprises adisk which is reduced 20 invention aims to provide a clutch embodying toprovide the medial boss lllb and circumferpawl elements and actuatingsprings therefor; ent al shoulder I003. and wherein one element of theclutch provides The medial boss 10b of the driven clutch disk recessesfor interchangeably receiving either a 10 is provided with a series ofperipheral bearing pawl or an actuating spring therefor. cutouts H whichare separated by gaps 10c. 2.5

It is also an object of the invention to provide These cutouts 12 arearranged in substantially in a clutch of this kind, a novel means whichopposed pairs as shown in Figures 3 and 5. When is easily operated tolock the clutch elements in the clutch members 1, III are to be set for"righteither operative or inoperative positionand hand" drive, as inFigure 3, the bearing ends which preferably, although not necessarily,takes I30. of pawls 13, whose outer ends are adapted 3n the form of aring which is carried by one of to engage teeth 11), will be located inone bearing the clutch elements. cutout 12 of each pair and a sustainingspring Other objects and advantages of the invention It for such pawl 13will be located in the opreside in certain novel'features ofconstruction, posed cutout 12. Each pawl carries a spring combinationand arrangement of the various seating pin l3b, as shown. 35

parts and in modes of operation thereof, all of However, when the clutchis to be set for "leftwhich will be understood and appreciated by hand"drive, as in Figures 2 and 5 as contrathose skilled in the art upon areading 'of the distinguished to the right-hand drive, shown followingdescriptive matter in connection with in Figures 1 and 3, the positionof the bearing 40 the accompanying drawings, whereinends of the pawls I3and springs I4 will be reversn Figure 1 is an elevational view, partlybroken ed. Therefore, the clutch of my invention has the and partly insection of a driven, mechanismvery decided advantage of lending itselfto reactuating shaft of a soy bean harvester, which versal installationby the very simple expedient incorporates a clutch embodying myinvention; of interchange of position of two simple internal Figure 2 isa similar view but illustrating a parts. Standardization of parts is a.great manu- 45 clutch arranged for "left hand driveas contrafacturingadvantage from the point of view of distinguished to the right handdrive of the economy and it will be appreciated that I have clutch shownin Figure v 1;. accomplished this by making my clutch reversi- Figure 3is a sectional view taken on the line ble so that it can be used aseither a right-hand 3-3 of Figure l; or left-hand clutch, as abovestated. In either 50 Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the lineevent, springs l4 urge the outer ends of pawls 1- 4 of Figure 3; 13 intoengagement with the teeth 1b of the Figure 5 is afragmentary sectionalview taken drive element of the clutch-namely cup memon the line 5-5 ofFigure 2; ber I.

Figure 6 is a detail view taken on line 66 As the means for disengagingpawls II from teeth lb-whether the drive be right-hand or left-hand--Iprovide the, ring it. This ring ll seats upon the shoulder it: of disk Iabout the boss "D. This ring II has the axially extending pawl actuatinglugs It. The shifting means for ring I! comprises the pin I! whichextends outwardly through the slot 20 in disk member II. The ends ofslot 20 are enlarged, as shown, to selectively receive the inner end ofthe latch sleeve II which is slidably carried on the pin ll. Sleeve IIis normally urged toward the ring I! by means of the pin-carried coilspring I! which has one end bearing against the head I 1a of the pin andthe other end seating against the inner end of a counterbore Ilb of saidsleeve.

The outer end of sleeve It has the head gripproviding wings Ila as shownby means of which the inner end of the sleeve is pulled out of one slotenlargement and the ring it shifted to change the relation of pawls l3to the ratchet teeth 1b.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it is believed that the advantages of my clutch will bereadily appreciated by those skilled in the art. The device comprises aminimum number of very sturdy and durable parts. The manner of assemblyis likewise simple. When it is desired to reverse the drive of theclutch, it is only necessary to reverse the position of the pawls I! andsprings I4which is to say putting the bearing ends of the pawls IS inthe recesses I! which, as shown in Figure 3, are receiving the innerends of the springs M. It is an easy matter to shift the ring l5 so thatits lugs 16 will actuate the pawls I! out of engagement with the ratchetteeth 1b when it is desired to break the driving connection between diskand cup member 1.

I claim:

1. The combination of a clutch comprising driving and driven clutchmembers, one of said clutch members comprising a cup member having acircumferential flange, a series of teeth on the interior surface ofsaid flange, said second clutch member comprising a disc insertablewithin said cup member, said disc providing a boss-like extensiondefining a shoulder, said bosslike extension having peripheral andsubstantially opposed bearing recesses and an intermediate cut-outtherebetween, a pawl member having bearing ends selectively andremovably positionable in said recesses and adapted to engage saidteeth, a spring member insertable in the companion one of said recessesand engageable with the adjacent pawl for actuating the same againstsaid teeth, a ring member seated on said shoulder and extending aboutsaid boss, said ring member having inwardly engaging pawl actuating lugsadapted to engage said pawl to actuate the same away from the teeth whenthe ring is moved in one direction whereby to break the drivingconnection between the clutch elements, said disk member having a slotproviding end engagements, a post extending outwardly from said ring andthrough said-slot whereby said ring can be actuated, and latching meanscarried by said pin and engageable in said slot enlargements whereby tolock said ring in a predetermined position.

2. The combination of a clutch comprising driving and driven clutchmembers, one of said clutch members comprising a cup member having acircumferential flange, a series of teeth on the interior surface ofsaid flange, said second clutch member comprising a disc insertablewithin said cup member, said disc providing a bosslike extensiondefining a shoulder, said bosslike extension having peripheral andsubstantially opposed bearing recesses and an intermediate cutouttherebetween, a pawl member having bearing ends selectively andremovably positionable in said recesses and adapted to ensagesaid teeth,a spring member insertable in the companion one of said recesses andengageable with the adjacent pawl for actuating the same against saidteeth, a ring member seated on said shoulder and extending about saidboss, said ring member having inwardly engaging pawl actuating lugsadapted to engage said pawl to actuate the same away from the teeth whenthe ring is moved inv one direction whereby to break the drivingconnection between the clutch elements, and actuating means for saidringfor operating the latter to disengage the pawls from said teeth. 3.The combination of a clutch comprising driving and driven clutch membersone of said clutch members comprising a cup member having acircumferential flange, a series of teeth on the interior surface ofsaid flange, said second clutch member comprising a disc insertablewithin said cup member, said disc providing a boss-like extensiondefining a shoulder, said boss-like extension having peripheral andsubstantially opposed bearing recesses and an intermediate cutouttherebetween, a pawl member having bearing ends selectively andremovably positionable in said recesses and adapted to en-- gage saidteeth, a spring member insertable in the companion one of said recessesand engageable with the adjacent pawl for actuating the same againstsaid teeth, a ring member seated on said shoulder and extending aboutsaid boss,

said ring member having inwardly engaging pawl actuating lugs adapted toengage said pawl to actuate the same away from the teeth when the ringis moved in one direction whereby to break the driving connectionbetween the clutch elements, actuating means for said ring for operatingthe latter to disengage the pawls from said teeth, and means associatedwith one of said clutch members and ring and removably engageable withthe other clutch member to latch said ring in a predetermined position.

LEON OSCAR COX.

